Thymic wave sign

Last revised by Mostafa El-Feky ◉ on 19 Oct 2021

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Radswiki T, El-Feky M, Sheikh Y, et al. Thymic wave sign. Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 08 Jun 2023) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-12368

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-12368

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/12368

rID:

12368

Article created:

16 Nov 2010, The Radswiki ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created The Radswiki had no recorded disclosures.

View The Radswiki's current disclosures

Last revised:

19 Oct 2021, Mostafa El-Feky ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Mostafa El-Feky had no recorded disclosures.

View Mostafa El-Feky's current disclosures

Revisions:

12 times, by 7 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Chest, Paediatrics

Sections:

Signs

Tags:

thyroid, refs, stub

Synonyms:

wave sign of Mulvey

Thymic wave sign refers to the indentation of the normal thymus in young children by the ribs, resulting in a wavy border on chest radiograph.

There are at least 3 described signs relating to a normal thymus in infants; thymic sail sign, thymic notch sign and thymic wave sign. Being able to identify the signs helps in preventing overcalling the cardiothymic silhouette.